FAQs

If you are unfortunate enough to have an accident whilst driving one of our vehicles, you have a legal obligation to report this accident / incident. All accidents must be reported to the collection branch immediately (if accidents are not reported within 48 hours, management reserve the right to charge a £1000 fine due to the potential escalation in value of any claim). You are required to complete an accident form ASAP for submission to the insurance and your insurance excess will be held until the claim is resolved. It is advisable that you take pictures of any damage to both vehicles / objects, gather details of independent witnesses as well as ensuring you obtain the make, model, colour and registration of the 3rd party vehicle and the full name, telephone number, address, insurance company of the 3rd party driver. If the vehicle is covered under your Companies Own Insurance (COI), you should adhere to their accident policy.

All of our quoted prices include one insured driver. If you require an additional driver, there is a fixed charge regardless of the hire period of £10 per driver (up to a maximum of 3 driver permitted on our insurance). All drivers must be authorised by the branch in person – unfortunately we can’t accept photocopied, emailed or scanned licenses.

Our insurance accepts drivers between the ages of 25 – 70 and any hirer driving under our insurance must have passed their test at least 2 years ago. If you have your companies own commercial insurance that operates under more lenient parameters, we may be able to accept this subject to internal validation of the policy.

Our entire fleet of vehicles are covered by a comprehensive 24 hour UK Breakdown Policy for your complete peace of mind. The policy is valid within the UK Mainland and available for authorised drivers. Any negligent or misuse of the vehicle that leads to a vehicle call out will be fully chargeable to the customer. If you require Breakdown outside of the UK Mainland, please contact your local branch and this can be arranged prior to hire for you.

If you need to cancel or amend a booking, please call you collection branch at your earliest convenience. Please note a minimum of 24 hours’ notice is required to cancel a reservation without charge – after this a minimum of 1 day’s rental charge will be incurred.

All vehicles are inspected by the customer and a representative at the branch before leaving. The inspection sheet is signed and agreed by both parties and will wholly constitute the condition of the vehicle at time of hire (Digital photos will also be taken of the vehicle). The fuel and mileage will also be recorded on the same sheet. The same check sheet will be used to check the vehicle back in. Vehicles must be checked in by a member of staff during working hours (out of hours returns for convenience are available at some branches but this does not constitute an exemption of liability – the vehicle is the full responsibility of the customer until checked in by us).

All vehicles driven under our insurance come with a fully comprehensive policy and associated excess in the event of any accident or damages (the amount can be found within the details for the specific vehicle you wish to hire). On most vehicle types we offer an optional collision damage waiver that would half the damage excess in the event of any accident or damages (please note this would not include and windscreen, tyre, negligent, overhead or lost keys related charges).

It is the customer’s responsibility to pay the London Congestion Charge if applicable during their hire period. None of our vehicles are pre-registered for the London Congestion Charge. If we receive a fine in respect of unpaid fees, a £25 administration will be charged to your payment card on top of the fine amount.

We do permit all vehicle types to travel abroad (except for 7.5 Tonne Vehicles) with our prior consent. Please contact your local branch for an all-inclusive price. Unlike other companies we do all the hard work for you and arrange a Green Card and European Breakdown Policy for the countries you are travelling to. We also include the mileage you expect to travel in the quote so don’t be fooled by cheaper alternatives that insist you arrange all cover and charge the extra’s on return!

If there is any new damage on return, management reserve the right to charge up to the full value of the insurance excess (exclusions apply for negligent, overhead, windscreen and tyre damage and loss of keys, theft and non-reporting of accidents) to cover the cost of repair and loss of revenue (please be aware this liability is regardless of the circumstances in which the damage occurred).

A bankable deposit (in addition to the rental charge) is taken upon collection of the vehicle. The deposit is typically £250, apart from specialist refrigerated vehicles and 7.5 Tonne vehicles where the deposit is £500. The deposit and rental charges need to be paid on credit or debit card and must be made in person (payments are not acceptable by telephone). Unfortunately we do not except cash, cheque, pay as you go cards, electron cards, BACS or AMEX. Deposits may be increased without prior warning at the management’s discretion.

As of 10th September 2013 all professional drivers of buses, coaches and vehicles above 3.5 tonnes GVW are required by law to hold a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) which must be carried with you at all times. Failure to comply may result in fines up to £1000. For further information, please visit www.direct.gov.uk/drivercpc

All hirers must have held a Full UK Driving Licence for a period of at least 24 months. You will be required to present your driving licence at the time of hire (either a new style photo licence or an old stlye paper licence are both valid but as of the 8th June 2015 you will require a DVLA code obtained from the Government website to accompany this). The rental depot will also require an additional proof of address dated within the last 3 months. If you are not able to produce the DVLA code, it may be possible to perform a chargeable licence check but please check with the branch prior to hire (without any part of the license, unfortunately the hire will not be able to proceed under any circumstances). If you are hiring a vehicle in excess of 3.5 Tonnes Gross Vehicle Weight, you must have category C1 on your license as well as experience in driving this type of vehicle. Driving licences issued by European Union Counties are acceptable for vehicle up to 3.5 Tonnes. Driving licences issues outside the European Union must be exchanged for a UK license after a period of 12 months in the UK.

As a general rule, 6 points or less without a period of ban for minor offenses (for example SP, TS, CU related offenses) are acceptable. However more severe endorsement codes remain on the license for longer periods of time and can lead to an increased deposit and insurance excess or refusal of hire. If you have any questions, please call your local branch for clarification.

This is classified as the monetary liability of the customer in the event of any accidents or damages to the vehicle hired. The amount will be stated on your hire contract (a guideline of this amount can be found in our individual vehicles details – although please note the amount stated on the contract is final as the guide excess may have increased due to endorsements or other reasons which you will always be made aware of). Negligent, overhead, tyre and windscreen damage are fully chargeable and not covered within the excess amount. Lost keys, not reporting of accidents within 48 hours and theft carry an increased £1000 excess.

If you need to alter your hire period from that stated on your hire contract, please contact you renting branch to see if an extension is available. We will be as accommodating as possible but if the vehicle is not available for extension you will be expected to adhere to the terms of the rental contract. Extensions of contracts are charged at full rate and do not benefit from advertised discounted rates – these are for pre booked periods only.

All of our vehicles operate a “like for like” fuel policy therefore if the vehicles is checked out with a ¼ tank it would be expected to be returned with a ¼ tank so effectively you pay for your own fuel. Most modern vehicles also have a range finder to give you an indication of fuel remaining in the tank and estimated fuel economy. If you are unsure, please ask a member of staff at the branch for advice. Unfortunately it is not possible to run a “full to full” policy as we do not have a facility for onsite fuel pumps. Shortages of fuel are chargeable on return and unfortunately no refunds can be given for excess fuel. Misfuelling of vehicles is not covered by the insurance and is fully chargeable to the customer.

Commercial vehicles run either 08:00 – 08:00 or 17:00 – 17:00 and cars are operated on an “anytime to anytime” basis within working hours. Saturday hires are classified as 17:00 Friday or 08:00 Saturday – 17:00 Saturday and Sunday hires are classified as 17:00 Saturday – 08:00 Monday (please note, these single day options may not be available on Bank Holidays or at some branch locations).

All our vehicles are covered as standard by a fully comprehensive insurance policy (unless prior arrangements have been made to cover the vehicle under your own fully comprehensive policy – this is only an option for companies). The associated excess that the customer is liable for can be found within the individual vehicle details and is always printed on the hire contract (if CDW if taking prior to hire, this excess amount is halved but the new excess is stated on your hire contract). Our insurance does not cover continental use unless prior consent is gained and any failure to do this will act as a breach of contract and all associated costs will be passed to the customer. Acts of negligence, overhead damage, lost keys, stolen vehicles, windscreens and tyre damage are not covered by the insurance excess amount.

It is imperative that vehicles are returned on time, in line with the return time on the contract. If you require an extension on your hire period the branch must be notified in plenty of time and whilst we will do everything we can to accommodate your request, extensions are only possible subject to availability. There is a 30 minute grace period on return times. Anything outside of this is charged as a complete extra day. If the extension is unauthorised, management reserves the right to charge for the loss of business suffered in addition to ongoing hire fees.

All of the quoted prices include a “daily mileage allowance”. This is typically 100 miles per day on all vans and commercial vehicles and 150 miles per day on cars (please note mileage limits may be different for longer term hires and unlimited mileage is not available). The surcharge per mile after the allowance is £0.08 plus vat per mile and £0.10 plus vat per mile for specialist refrigerated vehicles and 7.5 tonne vehicles. The mileage is calculated as the difference between the outgoing and incoming reading on the checkout sheet.

Out of hours returns facilities are available at some branches – please check with the individual branch if this service is essential. Please be aware the responsibility of the vehicle remains with the customer until the vehicle is check in by a member of staff during working hours

Payment for the vehicle must be made by credit or debit card. Unfortunately we do not accept cash, cheque or AMEX. Payment for the deposit and hire period must be made in advance (the exception is authorised account customers). Any extensions of hire periods must also be paid for in advance. Without payment, the vehicle cannot be extended or insured.

All prices on all of our advertising literature are kept as up to date and accurate as possible. You will always be given an accurate cost upon booking which will not change. All of our standard costs are quoted to include the rental, insurance and vat with a mileage allowance specific to that vehicle type.

Under no circumstances does our insurance cover vehicles to be towed. None of our vehicles are fitted with tow bars. It may be possible for you to cover vehicles on your companies own insurance for this purpose subject to our prior consent